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| Lady Justice/Image courtesy of Pixabay free images |
Here's how I feel about the death penalty (not that anybody asked, but it's been on my mind): I am NOT for the death penalty because far too many people have been put on death row, only to be released years or decades later because they were proven innocent, usually by DNA or other evidence that exonerates them.
Damien Echols of the West Memphis 3 is an example. I met Damien in person after he was released from prison, in 2011, after spending about half of his life in there. After reading his book, "Life After Death," as well as hearing and reading about other accounts of life in prison, I'm certain that life in prison, especially Close Management/solitary confinement, is probably a fate worse than death.
While I do believe in severe punishment for those who are guilty of murder and other such heinous crimes, I cannot, in good conscience, agree with the death penalty if even ONE person is innocent and ends up dying because of a life-altering error or a vendetta orchestrated by the justice system (and believe me, the West Memphis 3 case is a horrifying example of that). To me, that's simply government-sponsored murder, whether state or federal, and I'm not down with it.
Some of you might say, "Well, I'm sorry if someone's innocent and they die, but..." Oh, easy for you to say that if YOU are not the person falsely imprisoned and waiting to be killed by lethal injection or the electric chair! NO, executing an innocent person and brushing it off as mere collateral damage is heartless and insensitive, at least to me.
I strongly believe in the work being done by The Innocence Project, described as "a non-profit legal organization that is committed to exonerating wrongly convicted people through the use of DNA testing and to reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice." http://www.innocenceproject.org
Again, I absolutely and unquestionably believe in justice for victims and severe punishment for criminals who are guilty. However, in our zeal to mete out justice, let's not be in an irrational rush to throw people in prison based on false witness accounts, political motivation, personal/professional vendettas, or false/coerced confessions. When you're holding another's life in the balance, the process of arriving at a final result of guilt or innocence must be thorough, meticulous, unbiased, and measured.
In America, justice is supposed to be blind, meaning objective and impartial. We all know America is failing at that ideal and has been for a while. If justice is not blind, then I submit that justice is not legitimately or properly served. The system is broken and must be repaired. Until it is, you'd better hope you're not one of the people who is accidentally caught in its web.
